'Cloud Atlas'

Jay Bobbin

Since they're ambitious directors within their own spheres, the Wachowskis ("The Matrix") and Tom Tykwer ("Run Lola Run") only could yield a massively ambitious project by teaming up.

This film certainly is that, and even if the lengthy result - based on the novel by David Mitchell - isn't totally successful, it's surely intriguing. Over the course of several stories set in different eras, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon and Jim Broadbent are among the stars who play various characters ... the intended message being that everyone is linked across space and time. DVD extra: "making-of" documentary. *** (R: AS, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)